The Misadventures of Team SOAL
by FlawedVictori
Summary: All the OC AU chapters from the Showcase, moved here for convenience. Weiss sneezing would normally not change the universe. However, a mistimed sneeze keeps her from meeting Ruby's eyes that fateful day. Instead, she is appointed the leader of Team SOAL. The irony of a Schnee being chosen to lead three faunus is not lost on her.
1. Intro Arc, Ch 1

**For Want of a Schneeze**

 _ **A/N: I realized that the ideas I had for Team Soal would take up too much space on the AU Showcase, so I moved them here. Also, this sets a precedent for whenever anything gets upgraded to a full fic; it will be removed from the showcase and made into it's own fic. Anyway, this'll probably just be the cleaned-up versions of the original three chapters I wrote for the showcase, and then a series of oneshots that I'd come up with for Team SOAL.**_

Weiss let out a short exhale as she formed the last glyph in a well-practiced series designed to slow her landing and touch her down gently.

Unfortunately, none of Father's training exercises took place in the forest, Emerald or otherwise.

A branch caught her jacket and sent her into a short tumble, kicking up all sorts of dust.

Well, not really _all_ sorts, thankfully. One explosion a week was enough.

She stood up, dusted herself off, and sneezed. Unbeknownst to Ms Schnee, that sneeze would prove to deviate her life from the path handed to her, and, indeed, change the fate of the whole world. That well-timed sneeze caused Weiss Schnee to avoid meeting the eyes of Ruby Rose.

Instead, she found herself staring at a pair of boots that wouldn't have looked out of place in Winter's closet. However, the thought struck her that no matter how nice this person's shoes were, she should probably talk to them.

Fortunately, the owner of said surprisingly nice shoes spoke up then. "Weiss! Uh, not to be a jerk or anything but you're kinda... meanandIdon'treallywanttobeyourpartnersorrybye!"

By the time Weiss had looked up, Ruby was gone. In her place was a cloud of rose petals.

"Uh... bye?"

/

Ruby sped forth, intent on finding Yang.

 _'That was close. Definitely don't want to spend the next four years getting lectured. And th-oof!'_

Ruby tumbled over the poor person unfortunate enough to be in her way.

Ruby couldn't help but feel that this collision could've been avoided if the figure in front of her hadn't wore green into the forest.

Her world came into focus on a hand being held out to her. "You okay? Wait, Ruby?"

Ruby looked up. Silver eyes met alert hazel. "V, is that you?"

"Yeah." She pulled Ruby to her feet. "I thought you weren't supposed to graduate for another two years?"

"Oh, I wasn't but then a bunch of stuff happened and I sorta met Professor Ozpin and he decided I should go ahead of time, so here I am!"

"Cool... So, uh, did Yang actually-"

"Yep! She's here too!"

V cringed. "Great."

Ruby rolled her eyes. "Oh, don't worry. I'm sure those pranks were all just Signal stuff. We're at Beacon now! And plus, we're partners! She wouldn't prank my partner... probably."

V sighed.

/

 _Elsewhere_

/

Weiss was lost.

Very lost.

She was beginning to question the validity of her father's training regime, when it had given her exactly zero sense of direction.

Fortunately, Weiss was about to encounter someone with an excellent sense of direction.

Unfortunately, said someone was fighting a small pack of Beowolves.

A large crack resounded throughout the area, and Weiss began running towards it.

She found a girl spinning around a large rifle, and using it to bat away grimm as though they were made of paper. As she watched, a beowolf was sent flying into two of it's brethren.

Weiss knew, from a tactical standpoint, that the girl clearly didn't need her help,

Weiss knew, from a pragmatic standpoint, that she should be trying to conserve her energy, and her dust stores.

However, Weiss had been wandering the forest for what felt like hours, (it was forty minutes) she'd had a person (whom she wouldn't have wanted to team with anyway) outright _run away_ from her for no reason whatsoever,(It was because she'd been a bit of a bitch to her) and she was kind of hungry. (Breakfast was like, an hour ago. Cut her some slack)

In short, (heh) Weiss was in a bit of a pissy mood. So, he decided to let loose a bit on the grimm.

She charged forward, and opened a glyph under her.

"Heads up!"

She launched herself over the girls head, and used a second glyph to propel herself at a nearby grimm. Myrtenaster pierced it's heart, and it fell.

The rest of the battle was a blur, her own short-range efforts being supported well by the larger girl's rifle.

Said rifle proved to be almost humorously effective against the grimm, a single shot striking down two or three of the beasts.

After the last of them lay dying, Weiss held her hand out to the girl. "Weiss Schnee."

"Lilac Amethyst." She shook the heiress's hand. Their eyes met.

Weiss suppressed a chuckle. _'Honestly, it seems like some people took the whole 'name your kids after colors' thing too far.'_

She took a good, long look at the girl she'd be partnering with for the next four years.

She was a few inches taller than Weiss, enough to be noticeable, but not enough to keep her from still being seen as short.

Her combat apparel, in Weiss' opinion, needed a bit of work, but it was nothing that would interfere on missions. She was wearing a loose blue shirt and a pair of black pants, with flowery designs running up the legs in a dark purple.

Her hair was worn loose, the brown mass reaching her shoulder blades with a surprising lack of tangles.

A pair of dog ears poked out from the top-

Dog ears?

Weiss forced her eyes downward.

"So, uh... do you know which way the temple is?"

Lilac nodded, then set off walking. Weiss followed her.

/

 _Elsewhere_

 _/_

"Should we climb a tree? We might be able to see it from here."

"I dunno, Ruby... I'd rather stick together, and if we couldn't see it from the cliff, I doubt we'll be able-

"Whoa-ahhh-ohhh!"

A figure was thrown through the air past them, screaming his head off all the while.

"Jaune?"

"What the hell?"

They shared a look, and took off after him.

/

 _Back With the Character Who's Actually as Important as She is in Canon_

 _/_

Weiss was beginning to get discouraged. Lilac had brushed off or outright ignored any attempts she'd made at conversation, and, to be frank, she was running out of topics.

So, she decided to fall back on that which she'd mercilessly mocked so many times.

"So, Lilac... any guys you have an eye on?"

Brown eyes met blue for a moment, then the faunus kept walking.

' _Well, I haven't embarrassed myself enough, so...'_

"Girls, then?" Lilac showed no reaction. "I mean, there's no guys around here that are my type anyway. I prefer an intellectual, you know? I mean, there's this blonde, but I think she's straight."

Nothing.

Weiss sighed. She didn't want to have to do this, but it seemed she was going to have to have this talk a lot sooner than she anticipated.

"Look, uh... I know that you're probably a bit uneasy around me, but I just want you to know, I have no plans to continue what my father has done with my grandfather's company. I think the exploit-"

"IsawupyourskirtinthefightandI'msorrypleasedon'thateme!"

Weiss blinked.

"What?"

Lilac steeled herself.

"During the fight, I accidentally looked up your skirt, when you jumped over me. I wanted to apologize, but I was too embarrassed, and you kept trying to start a conversation andIwassomean, and-"

She took a deep breath. "I'm sorry."

Weiss struggled to form a reply without embarrassing the girl further, but it was in vain. As soon as she opened her mouth, a girl wearing a cover-all suit of chainmail and a knightly helm was thrown through a nearby tree by an Ursa.

"Shit! Saph, you okay?" Another girl, this one wearing a black combat skirt, shouted while attacking the Ursa. "Hey, you two mind giving us a hand?"

Weiss and Lilac turned to the new foe.

Weiss sped in, using her glyphs to propel herself through multiple small strikes on the beast. Lilac fell back, and lined up a shot. The beast's original enemy swung her naginata in wide arcs, carving painful slices into it's hide. After but a few moments, Lilac yelled, and the two jumped away from the beast, letting her take off part of the top of it's head with a well-placed shot. The beast fell, and began dissipating.

"Well, that was fun." The new arrival brushed off her skirt, and grinned at the two. "Thanks for the assist! I was kinda worried I might be done for when Saph got taken out."

A groan echoed through the clearing. "Yeah, I'm fine, by the way. Thanks for checking on me."

Her smile just grew wider, and she yelled back. "No prob! Thanks for taking out the Ursa, Mrs. Chainmail!"

She turned back to Weiss and Lilac. "Seriously though, thank you. I'm Aureate, and helmet-hair over there is Sapphire."

Weiss took a good, long look at Aureate. She was almost statuesque when compared to Weiss and Lilac, standing at about 5'10. She wore a tight black tank-top, and a combat skirt that Weiss felt scandalized to be within ten feet of. She had her black hair in a short ponytail, allowing her cat ears plenty of room to breathe.

Weiss couldn't help but feel a bit proud that she hadn't been surprised this time.

She turned to Sapphire, who was managing to lift herself up off the ground slowly. Considering the hit she'd taken, Weiss was impressed.

This girl was huge, towering over the three. She was easily six feet tall. Mrs. Chainmail was clearly an appropriate name, as only her hands were completely uncovered. The only non-chainmail articles she wore were leather boots and her helm, which was a solid-looking hunk of metal, though it was pretty dented at that point.

She cut a pretty imposing figure, though Aureate seemed unimpressed. "Hey Saph, why don't you get rid of that damn helmet? This has gotta be the third time you've been blindsided because of it, and grimm aren't even smart enough to go for it."

Sapphire ignored her comment. "Did you grab Einmorte?"

"Yeah, totally, definitely grabbed the giant fucking sword I can barely lift while I was fighting an Ursa. Excellent tactical decision."

"If you spent half the time you're on your back benching, you wouldn't have that problem. Maybe you'd even be able to get a real weapon, instead of the knife on a stick you're stuck with."

"If you were ever on your back for something other than working out, maybe you wouldn't be such an irritable bitch all the time."

"If you ever actually thought with what's in your head instead of what's in your pants, you could come up with a better insult than bitch."

Meanwhile, Weiss was taking small steps away from the two. While she was _pretty_ sure, judging by their smiles, that they were kidding with each other, she didn't want to get on Sapphire's bad side. Or be in the way if she decided to attack.

She turned to Lilac, only to see that the quiet girl had disappeared.

As if on cue, the bushes to the right started to rustle, and Lilac stepped through, an enormous sword with intricate red designs along the blade balanced on her shoulder.

Sapphire rushed her, and plucked the sword from her grasp. "You found it! Thanks!" She examined the blade, which gave Aureate the opportunity she'd been looking for.

She pulled the helm off her tall companion. A pair of long white rabbit ears unfurled gradually, but that wasn't as surprising to Weiss as the large girl's hair. She had a scruffy, boyish cut of pink hair.

Granted, Weiss wasn't exactly one to talk about odd hair colors, but it was just such a contrast with the rest of the girl's image that she had to stare.

An ear twitched as Sapphire rounded on Aureate, the latter suppressing a grin. "What, exactly, made you think that was okay?"

"Hm." Aureate reached a hand up and tapped the larger girl's nose. "You look much cuter without it. And don't try and pretend that wasn't hell on your ears. I did you a favor!"

Sapphire gave a muted snarl in response. It sounded distinctly like the word 'bitch'.

"Plus" Aureate continued. "I've been doing it ever since you started wearing that stupid thing when we were kids, and you've yet to actually try and stop me."

Sapphire huffed. "Oh, shut up." She turned to Weiss.

"Anyway, because my partner-"

"And best friend"

" _Partner_ insisted on being rude, I don't think we were ever properly introduced. I'm Sapphire Lazuline, and this is Aureate Orchid."

Weiss nodded. "It's nice to meet you. This is Lilac Amethyst, and I'm-"

Aureate spoke up, affecting a ridiculous Upper-Echelon Atlesian accent. "I'm Weiss Schnee, and this is not worth my time. I'm losing a million dollars for every minute I spend talking to you lower class-"

Sapphire rapped her on the back of the head, and Aureate smiled. "Ah, just kidding around. I'd heard you were coming to Beacon. Gotta say, I'd probably have stuck with the heiress lifestyle, myself."

"You do seem suited to it. I'm surprised you haven't already released a sex tape, actually." Sapphire said, smirking.

Aureate let out a chuckle. "Well, I wanted to have a good co-star first. Hows 'Sapphires Fingers are a Girl's New Best Friend' sound?"

Sapphire blushed, but struck back. "We both know you'd never be able to deal with not having it named after you.'

"Eh, fair point." She turned to Weiss. "How about you? How does 'Aureate's Erotic Adventures in Schnee Manor' sound?'

The three turned to Weiss, who was an interesting shade of red that seemed to be fading towards purple.

"Did you break her?" Lilac wondered aloud.

The voice seemed to remind Aureate she had another person to make regret meeting her. "Ooh, what about you?! 'Aureate Orchid Shows Lilac her Flower!' Or-"

Weiss finally spoke up. "I am not that kind of heiress!"

"Which kind?" Aureate was smiling. She was in her element. "The annoyingly superior rich one, or the one who releases sex tapes and gets her own reality show?"

"Both! Er... neither!"

Sapphire started laughing.

Lilac stared at the three girls in front of her, and began reconsidering her life choices.

/

 _Some Time Later_

 _/_

The four stepped onto the central platform, and gazed around at the pieces spread around on the pedestals spaced around the temple.

"Huh." Sapphire was the first to speak. "Seems like we're the first ones here."

"Thank goodness we had Lilac with us. Probably wouldn't have ever gotten here if we'd been following you the whole time." As always, Aureate responded with a biting comment.

"Hey, I'm not the one who led us into the Ursa, am I?"

"Good job, Lilac." Weiss smiled at the faunus, who returned it. "You want to pick the artifact? You've definitely earned it."

Lilac circled the area for a while, before grabbing a representation of a White Queen, and tossing it to Weiss. "That's odd. There's four of every piece, even the Queen and King. Two white, and two black."

Aureate shrugged. "Well, there are a lot of people coming here this year. Saph, you wanna pick?"

"Eh, who cares? Lilac, toss us the other Queen, would you?"

Lilac grabbed the other white piece from the pedestal she was passing and threw it to Sapphire.

"Well," Weiss said, looking around at her group. "Should we head back?"

Aureate shrugged, Lilac nodded, and Sapphire started walking back the way they'd came.

The trip back was almost ominously quiet, and the four subconsciously kept their guard up the entire way to the cliffs.

They all knew that there should have been more grimm, but they wrote it off as luck.

Of course, this meant other teams were facing more grimm than usual. The future Team JNPR successfully slew a Deathstalker, Ruby, along with her partner, fought off a small army of Beowolves, and the future team CRDL wandered into an Ursae-infested cave and ran off, leaving Blake and Yang to take out the horde.

But to team Weiss? Easy walk out of the forest. Some people have all the luck.

/

Ozpin smiled reassuringly at the group. "Ruby Rose, Verdant Grove-

Snickers were heard throughout the auditorium.

"-Blake Belladonna, and Yang Xiao-Long. You four recovered the White Knight pieces. From this day forward, you will work together as.. Team Ruby" The screen read RVBY under their picture. Lead by... Ruby Rose.

Yang hugged Ruby, and wolf whistles could be heard throughout the audience.

They vacated the stage, and Team CRDL was brought up.

Aureate spoke in a low whisper. "So, seems like we're a team. What do you think our name is?"

Silence.

She smirked. "We've got Lilac Amethyst, Weiss Schnee, Aureate Orchid, and Sapphire Lazuline...Hm."

Weiss shot her a glare that clearly implied she needed to shut up.

Aureate continued on. "Maybe Team Asshole? You know, A-S-O-L?"

Sapphire punched her in the arm as Goodwitch sent them a glare, and motioned for them to take the stage.

Ozpin smiled at them. "And finally, Weiss Schnee, Aureate Orchid, Lilac Amethyst, and Sapphire Lazuline. You four recovered the White Queen pieces. From this day forward, you will work together as.. Team Soul" The screen read SOAL under their pictures. Lead by... Weiss Schnee."

Weiss smiled, and Sapphire clapped her on the shoulder.

They stepped off the stage, and Ozpin turned to the crowd. "Dorm assignments are posted on the walls outside, listed in alphabetical order by team name. Dismissed."

Lilac went off to find their room number, as the other three gathered their luggage together.

Weiss saw Ruby on the other end of the auditorium chattering with her team, and nearly went to apologize, but a glare from Blake stopped her. Still, she resolved herself to make peace with the hooded girl as soon as she could.

Then Lilac was there, and they were headed to the room, Aureate making jokes about whose bed she was sharing that night and Lilac outright offering, to the shock of everyone. When Aureate went silent, she'd laughed and said she'd known she was all talk.

The ensuing barrage of double entendres and jokes persisted until the four had made it to their room.


	2. Intro Arc, Ch 2

**Chasin' your Tail and it Drives Me Crazy...**

 _ **A/N:Didn't realize that FFN took out my line breaks. Probably made the original chapter look like shit. Sorry, guys.**_

A hand touched Weiss' shoulder, and gently shook her awake.

"Weiss, come on, time to get up." Lilac shook her persistently, even as Weiss tried to roll back over.

"You told us to be up by seven, remember?"

Weiss absentmindedly swatted at the person trying to wake her. Lilac, of course, was a huntress-in-training, so the swat missed entirely.

Lilac resumed her vigil, shaking the heiress every few moments.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the room, Aureate was watching Lilac with a smirk on her face.

Sapphirewas slowly edging away from her, as she recognized that look. She had no desire to be anywhere near the disaster that was sure to unfold when Aureate smiled like that.

She walked across the room, sidled past Lilac, and leaned over Weiss. She reached a hand out, and trailed it gently along the length of Weiss' leg. She then shoved Lilac towards Weiss, and was back on her own bed before anyone could blink.

Almost immediately, Weiss woke with a start, and felt someone far too close to her. She lashed out, punching at the attacker.

Lilac dodged, but took the second hit as she attempted to get away from the flurry of limbs that was set to inherit the SDC.

Aureate was literally gasping for breath at this point, having laughed during the entire ordeal.

/

Fifteen minutes later, Aureate had been voted unanimously into the position of team Laundry-Lady.

She stalwartly stuck to her accusations of the election being rigged, which didn't bother the other three, as they knew she was right.

So, as Weiss hung her paintings and Aureate pouted, Sapphire was showing Lilac the video that'd been making it's rounds through the student body.

"Ruby, watch out!"

"Got it!"

Hundreds of howls and growls emanated from the scroll's speaker, giving them a tinny quality that belied the danger anyone was in if they happened to hear the sound.

Lilac's eyes widened, and she let out a low whistle.

"Impressive."

Saph laughed. "Damn straight!" She turned to Weiss. "And you met this chick already?"

"Yes. Of course, if I would have known she was that capable, I would have been more... polite."

"Tolerable, you mean?"

Weiss sent a glare towards Aureate, who winked in response.

Naturally, she'd already went back to standard Aureate, AKA annoying and flirty mode.

"Well..." Weiss continued. "Yes, I suppose I need to apologize..."

/

Unfortunately for Weiss, she didn't get the chance for the next three days, as she had no classes with Ruby aside from Goodwitch, which both teams shared.

Of course, this meant three days of Aureate 'insinuating' that her interest in Ruby was romantic.

And because Aureate was anything but subtle, this meant three days of increasingly irritating jabs, taunts, and outright harassment.

All of which deeply amused the other half of team SOAL, as well as Aureate herself. Lilac, of course, put on a good show of reprimanding Aureate, though she could admit that some of the jokes were pretty funny. Sapphire, on the other hand, could be counted on to join in on some of the more well-planned jokes.

Weiss found that three specific 'jokes' stuck out in her mind, when she looked back on this incident in later years.

/

Their second day of classes saw Weiss once again waking up slightly late, which of course meant she'd have the last shower. However, Aureate was refusing to vacate the bathroom, citing her own need to fix her hair.

Naturally, this lead to a barrage of innuendos, mainly centered around Weiss disrobing while Aureate was present.

During the ensuing argument, Sapphire replaced one of Weiss' binders with an identical one she pulled out from under Aureate's bed.

Lilac raised an eyebrow at her, which was met with a wink and the warrior holding a finger to her lips.

/

Weiss absentmindedly reached into her bag for her binder, watching Professor Oobleck zip around the room as he answered a few preliminary questions about the day's material. As he began the lecture, she opened her binder, and her heart nearly stopped.

There was an... imaginatively drawn picture of herself and Ruby. The artist had clearly taken some liberties with... particular parts of Ruby's anatomy, perhaps in an attempt to make her more clearly related to her sister. Perhaps most striking was the clear effort put into Weiss having a tan line, despite her already pale skin.

Ruby, Weiss noted with a gulp, did not have tan lines.

Despite the lewd nature, it was clear that the artist put quite a bit of work into the drawing.

Weiss glanced at Aureate, who, sure enough, was grinning from ear to ear.

Rolling her eyes, Weiss turned the page... and saw the same picture. The next page had it as well. Weiss flipped through the pages quickly, finding nothing but the drawing.

She glared at Aureate, who smirked back. "So, the library has a photocopier. Just in case you needed it."

Weiss tried to glare harder.

Aureate suppressed a chuckle, and handed Weiss her original binder. Weiss, to her credit, said nothing derogatory about her teammate.

At least, not until after class.

/

"Weiss, wake up!"

Aureate absentmindedly dodged the swipe Weiss took at her.

"Lilac" Weiss said, rolling over. "Classes don't start till noon today. Let me sleep."

Aureate gave her a particularly rough shake."Y'know, calling a cat faunus by a dog faunus' name is usually a good way to get rid of any excess blood you've been carrying around. Organs, too."

Weiss' eyes shot open. "I'm sorry! I thought you were- I mean, I didn't mean it in a bad- like, I can tell you guys apart, it's not a race thing it's-"

Aureate placed a finger on Weiss' lips. Weiss glared for a moment, before remembering she was supposed to look apologetic.

"It's cool, Weiss. I know you weren't trying to be racist. You had your eyes closed, I get it."

Weiss sighed. "Thank you. I'm trying very hard to improve my-"

Aureate waved a hand. "Yeah, I get you. Anyway! I wrote you a song you can sing to Ruby! It'll definitely get you in her pants!"

Weiss glared.

Aureate grinned. "Hit it, Saph!"

Sapphire burst out of the closet, a keytar hanging from her shoulders. She began to play a tune, starting it slow but making it slowly jauntier as it went on.

Aureate shot her a thumbs up. "Now, Lilac!"

The lights went off, and two circles of light appeared, illuminating Aureate. Weiss turned to see Lilac sitting on her bed, waving two industrial-grade flashlights around.

By the time Aureate began to sing, Weiss was laughing. Even the lewd lyrics did nothing to dampen her mood.

/

Aureate sighed, looking at her schedule.

After nine today, she'd have to find a new thing to tease Weiss about. Of course, if Weiss managed to mess up the apology, she could always tease her about that.

Of course, this meant the joke had to go out with a bang. Yesterday's concert had put Weiss in a good mood, so, if she was lucky, Weiss might not even hit her for this one.

Eh, who was she kidding. She was dead meat if Weiss didn't die of embarrassment.

 _'Still,_ she mused as she applied the make-up, _no one can ever say Aureate Orchid does things half-assed.'_

 _/_

At 6:30 AM, Weiss Schnee woke to the feeling of someone straddling her.

Naturally, she responded in the most mature and intelligent way she could think of.

Swinging blindly at what she could only assume was Aureate.

"Calm down Weiss, you'll wake the others!" Aureate grabbed her hands, and gently, but firmly, pushed them to the mattress.

Weiss closed her eyes, took several calming breaths, and opened them again. She could, if she focused, almost make out the shape of Aureate's head.

Which told her where to aim, if nothing else.

Aureate leaned down, putting her mouth beside Weiss' ear.

"Like my new outfit?" She whispered.

Weiss tried to glare at her, but in actuality was glaring over her shoulder. "I can't see anything." She said, in as even a voice as she could manage.

"What? Oh right." Aureate reached over and flicked on Weiss' lamp. "Humans." She said, rolling her eyes.

Weiss lashed out with the hand Aureate had freed, aiming at her ribs. Aureate'd been expecting it, and caught the fist, returning it to it's place with Weiss' other hand.

"Well?" She asked. "How do you like the new outfit?"

Weiss trailed her eyes up and down her teammate's body.

To call it an 'outfit' was a bit much. She wore a plain black corset, which, even for a corset, showed off far too much, in Weiss' opinion, a red miniskirt, and a red hooded cloak.

She almost looked like...

Weiss hmphed. "You're kidding me, right?"

Aureate smirked at her. "You like it? I thought that if Ruby rejected you, I could fill the void."

Weiss rolled her eyes, and fought back a blush. "I don't suppose you'd be inclined to actually listen to me when I say, for the hundredth time, that I'm not interested in Ruby?"

"Probably not." Aureate leaned closer to Weiss, easily close enough for the heiress to kiss her. "So?

Weiss forced herself not to blush, as she formulated a plan. She'd noticed that Aureate tended to be less touchy with Lilac after she'd called her on one of her bluffs."Aureate."

The cat faunus leaned down, putting her cleavage into Weiss' face to whisper in her ear. "Yes, Mrs. Schnee?"

Weiss slowly maneuvered her knee. "If I promise not to hit you, will you let go of my hands?"

Aureate released her hands with a chuckle. "Sure, just keep your word. I don't like it _that_ rough."

As Aureate expected, Weiss clearly had a tough time choosing where to put her hands, eventually deciding on putting them beside her, on the mattress and in no way touching Aureate.

She decided Weiss had probably had enough. "Well, Weiss, just remember, I'm here when you want me." She flashed Weiss a smile, and began picking herself up off the heiress.

Weiss stopped her by grabbing her ass with both hands, and flashing the taller girl a smile of her own. She pressed her hips upward. "What if I want you now?"

Aureate steadied her breath. The heiress was obviously just trying to call her bluff. "W-well," She internally berated herself for stuttering. "We don't have the time right now. Maybe tonight-" She cut off in a squeak as Weiss flipped her over, and leaned in close.

"Well, I mean, if you really want to, maybe we can squeeze in a quickie." She tried and failed to fight back her blush. Weiss smirked, and mimicked her earlier move, putting her mouth beside the faunus' ear.

"Lilac was right, you really _are_ all talk." Weiss got off her, and walked to her dresser, picking out an outfit for the day.

As Aureate got her breathing back under control, she realized that Weiss was blushing at least as much as she was. "Phew. Okay, so... you win that round."

"Maybe now you'll realize that teasing me doesn't help you in the slightest." Weiss said, keeping her voice even and facing away from Aureate.

Despite this, her blush was obvious.

And Aureate always did hate to lose.

"Maybe not, but I'm sure thinking about having little old me at your mercy will 'help' you for years on lonely ni-"

Weiss threw a shirt at her.

"Pervert!"

Aureate smiled. "Prude."

"Malcontent!"

"Repressed rich girl."

"I- You! Deviant!"

"You seem like a bit of a deviant yourself."

Weiss appeared to have lost the ability to form words, as instead of an insult, she just made several angry sounds towards Aureate.

Naturally, Aureate laughed at her.

And that's the story of how Lilac woke up to find Weiss trying to strangle Aureate.


	3. Intro Arc, Ch 3

**Kerfuffle**

 _ **A/N: This is the last of the introductory arc, next chapter, and most of the foreseeable ones, will be little interconnected oneshots. As always, check my poll, and make sure to review and tell me what you liked and disliked, alright? And be sure to check out the other fics I updated today. Kinda obscure Super Smash Brothers reference, tell me if you spot it. Lastly, if Blake comes off as kind of a bitch, remember that she was pretty confrontational with Weiss at the start of volume one and definitely held resentment towards her for a while, and she hasn't had a chance to see any redeeming qualities in Weiss. Now, couple that with her being shown to obsess about things and years of White-Fang brainwashing, and the fact that she knows Weiss has an all-faunus team...**_

"All I'm saying is, you could have pulled her off me. You have _no idea_ how fun it can be to have a grateful cat-girl around." Aureate said, lacing her hands behind her head.

Lilac absentmindedly noted the interesting things this did to her friend's figure. "Alright, you can't fight off a ninety pound girl. Noted. Good thing you've got Saph around to fight off anything bigger than a beowolf."

Saph, who was walking a few steps behind them with Weiss, chimed in with a "Damn straight."

Aureate rolled her eyes and turned around to face her partner. "Yeah yeah, talk some more shit. Maybe Goodwitch'll have us spar, I'll show everybody how easy it is to hit your blind spot."

Weiss gasped, and Lilac barely resisted the urge to put a leg out and trip Aureate, who was still glaring at Saph.

"Do you really think we'll be having spars on the first class? I'd assumed we'd spend at least a few days going over the technology and the safety protocols, and then-"

Fortunately, something distracted Weiss enough to kill the train of thought.

Unfortunately, it brought with it a completely different set of problems.

A cloud of rose petals appeared behind Aureate, and she fell backwards into the girl who materialized with them.

They fell to the ground in a tangle of limbs, and took a few moments getting back up. When they did, Ruby's face was redder than her cloak, and she looked absolutely mortified.

Aureate's face was a bit red, but she managed to grin. "You cop a good feel?"

Ruby tried to respond, but all that came out was an inelegant sputtering.

Weiss rolled her eyes. "Aureate, stop it."

Aureate whirled on her, a bit of red still gracing her features. "Hey, I'm just trying to teach your _girlfriend_ not to try for second base before the first date."

Weiss ignored her, and Ruby's sputtering increased in volume.

Of course, the rest of Team RVBY chose that time to show up.

"What about second base?" Yang asked, smirking. The smirk disappeared when Ruby hid behind her, however.

Aureate chose that moment to display what Weiss was seriously starting to consider her Semblance;the ability to say the worst possible thing at any given moment.

"Oh, you know, your leader there copped a good feel off me, so Weiss and I were trying to convince her to return the favor."

Yang blinked, her eyes turning red and her aura starting to flow out, invigorating her hair. "I see."

"I was doing nothing of the sort." Weiss said quickly, taking a step away from Aureate.

Blake spoke up. "A Schnee leaving a faunus to take the fall for her? Can't say I'm surprised."

Weiss whirled on her, and Lilac grabbed her shoulder to keep her from doing or saying anything. Weiss seemed to understand, though she sent Blake a particularly strong glare.

For her part, Aureate seemed to realize her mistake. "Uh, y'know, we were joking, I-"

Yang took a step forward, and Aureate yelped, scampering over to hide behind Saph, who cracked her knuckles and glared at Yang. The shorter girl sneered, taking another step forward.

"Alright guys, I think we all need to just calm down." Verdant said, stepping in between Yang and Sapphire.

"V's right, guys." Ruby said, putting on her best authoritarian voice. "Everyone just take a minute and breathe. Yang, _calm down_."

Yang continued glaring for a moment, then tore her gaze away, muttering darkly. Aureate, however, declined to come out from behind Sapphire.

Weiss composed herself, then spoke up. "Thank you, Ruby." The girl's look of outright shock hurt Weiss a bit, but she knew it was justified. "Aureate, Sapphire, lets get a move on before we're late." She glanced at Lilac, who nodded.

Ruby recovered enough to nod at her. "Right, no problem. I'm just gonna stay here and have a talk with my team."

/

Professor Goodwitch looked up at the board and smiled. "And it seems the last spar of today shall be a battle between teams RVBY and SOAL Ladies, if you would, go get changed."

/

"You have got to be _fucking_ kidding me."

Aureate looked across the room at the smile that appeared on Yang's face. Said blonde looked her way, and her eyes flashed red. Aureate nearly fell out of her seat at the flash of fear that ran through her body. "They cheated somehow, right? I mean, there's no way that was a random pick. No way in hell. Not a chance, I mean, seriously? We-"

"Aureate, you're babbling. Calm down." Saph said, rolling her eyes.

"She's gonna murder me!"

"Oh, you'll be fine. Use her anger against her, dodge a bit, wait till she slips up and take her out." Lilac said, patting her on the back as the group started walking towards the changing areas.

"Use her anger against her, right... good plan. I can do this, guys. I'll take her out.

/

Team SOAL stared across the battlefield at Team RVBY, preparing for the showdown. Each huntress checked her weapons, waiting for Goodwitch to finish reiterating the rules and call go.

For some, the silence was used to formulate strategies, and was therefore welcomed. For others...

"So, anyone else notice that blondie fights with gauntlets?" Aureate asked.

Saph nodded.

"So, you would've been fucked if she'd actually started swinging earlier."

Saph nodded again.

Aureate glanced at her out of the corner of her eye. "Thanks, by the way. You know, for stepping in."

"No problem."

"You're my best friend. You know that? I really mean that. You're alway-"

"I'm not fighting her for you." Saph said, smiling.

Aureate turned to her. "Oh, come on, please? She's gonna kill me!"

"No."

She turned to Lilac. "Hey-"

"Nope."

"Guys, come on. Help me out here!"

The two said nothing.

"I'll, uh... I'll make out with the cat-girl! You guy's _know_ you want me to make out with the cat-girl."

The pair rolled their eyes, but Weiss eyed Aureate with confusion. "I wasn't aware there was another cat faunus at Beacon this year.

The three faunus were silent for a moment, each of them trying to come up with a plausible explanation.

Lilac eventually spoke up. "It's... uhm... an innuendo."

"Oh." Weiss looked at Aureate contemplatively for a moment. Her eyes widened, and she stepped away. "Ew!"

While they all wanted to ask what she'd thought up, they knew that keeping their fellow faunus' secret was more important.

Of course, that didn't keep them from mumbling "Humans" in unison.

/

"Dibs on the one from earlier." Yang said, eying her teammates.

Ruby sighed. "Alright, but don't go too far. Anyone else?"

"Dibs on the heiress."

"Alright. V, you have a grudge against anybody over there?"

"Nah. But, still, dibs on the big one. You can handle the chick with the rifle."

"Oh good, a decision based on actual tactics. Thanks!"

Yang and Blake decided not to respond.

"Alright, guys, here's the plan; I'll attack first, and keep that rifle busy. You guys isolate your targets, take them down, and move onto whoever looks like they could use the help. Remember, knockouts aren't necessary; they lose when they get down to a quarter of their aura. Got it?"

"Got it." The three chorused.

/

The starting buzzer sounded, and Ruby fired a few shots backwards, propelling herself towards Lilac, who raised an eyebrow before firing a few shots, which Ruby managed to dodge only thanks to her Semblance.

Weiss began making glyphs to stop the cloaked girl, but cut the familiar motions short in favor of dodging the volley of bullets Blake sent her way. She sent back a few beams, and the taller girl closed the distance with surprising speed, lashing out with a few slashes. Weiss dodged them and sent back a few of her own before the two broke apart...

Just in time to let Aureate pass, sent hurtling by Yang. The blonde herself followed at a calmer pace, sending Weiss a smile and a wink.

/

Aureate picked herself up in time to take a few swings at Yang with her naginata, Yang dodging them easily until she sent one at her neck.

That one, she threw her hand up to block, allowing it to rebound off her gauntlet before grabbing it under the blade.

She smiled at Aureate as she struggled to pull her weapon away, then slowly and deliberately forced the butt of it to the ground, using her strength to demoralize and intimidate the girl..

"Y'see? This is why I don't use weapons like this. Sure, if it all goes well, you've got more range than me, but if I can keep you from using it? You're screwed! If someone ever managed to figure out how to get Ember Celica off, I'd just punch them. Always have a backup."

Aureate let out a grunt in response, trying to force her weapon back up.

"Y'know, if you promise not to mess with my sister anymore, I'll pull a few punches. What do ya say?"

Aureate steeled herself. "Sure, I promise. Y'know, there's another benefit to weapons like mine, aside from more reach."

"Oh really?" Yang smirked. "What would that be? It teaches you to work the shaft?"

Aureate smiled back. "Actually, yes." She moved her thumb, allowing Yang to see a red button on the otherwise black staff. Yang's eyes widened, and Aureate jerked the weapon up, then pressed the button.

A short-range dust rocket shot out of the butt of the weapon into the ground, sending the two flying back.

Yang hit the ground and rolled quickly onto her feet.

Aureate slammed the blade into the ground and whirled around it, before killing her momentum and sliding down to her feet gracefully.

Yang let out a laugh. "Clever girl. Wanna try that one again?"

"You wanna let me?"

Yang laughed again, then threw down both arms, firing Ember Celica as she threw her aura out in a gratuitous show of power, reveling in the shock on Aureate's face. "Bring it on!"

/

Verdant slammed her shield into the side of Saph's sword, throwing the slice far enough to the side to dart forward with her short sword and throw a slice of her own, which was, in turn, knocked away by a chainmail-covered arm.

To her surprise, the giant spoke up. "Y'know, you're pretty good."

"Uh... thanks. You too." She backed away a few steps, and the giant let her sword rest on the ground for a moment.

"Y'know, I don't like using it in spars, cause it's kind of a bitch to reload... but I guess I'm gonna need it to take you out."

V raised an eyebrow, as well as her shield. "Pardon?"

Saph raised her sword, then pressed a button on the hilt. The red lines on the blade began to glow, then the whole thing was wreathed in flames, and she let out a barking laugh. "Let's see you block this!"

She charged, and swung the blade towards V, who leapt backwards, letting out a laugh of her own.

"No thanks!" She strapped her shield to her back, then whipped out a pair of revolvers.

Saph laughed, her eyes wild. "Revolvers? A bit behind the times, don't you think?"

V continued putting distance between them, taking a few potshots enhanced with aura at the giant, who shrugged them off. "Hey, respect the classics! These babies are an almost perfect replica of the ones from The Faunus Seven!"

Saph hefted her sword and charged, letting out the only comeback that came to mind. "I preferred Six Arrows and a Bow!"

V let out a dramatic gasp and fired out a volley of shots. "You take that back!"

/

Aureate took yet another hard punch, and was sent flying. She shot several rockets at Yang, propelling her further and further away from the blonde's fists. A quick glance at the board confirmed her fears; her aura was below half, while the blonde's was hardly scratched. The rest of her team seemed to be about even with their opponents, and Weiss even had a small advantage, so she knew she had to do something, quick, or be seen as the weak link. A sudden drop in Saph's aura made her turn to the girl, to see her bashing Blake out of the way with her shoulder to get at V and taking a good slash in retaliation.

She used another rocket to propel herself that way, laving behind a frustrated Yang to land in front of Saph. "Hey, tag out! Deal with blondie!"

Saph nodded, and turned to face down a charging Yang, leaving Aureate to launch herself at a laughing Verdant.

/

Lilac batted the scythe to the side, bringing up the barrel of the rifle and firing at point-blank range into Ruby's stomach. On any grimm smaller than a Deathstalker, it would've been a kill-shot.

Ruby, however, just ceased to be there.

Lilac spun, blocking the blow she was expecting from the cloaked girl, and looking into silver eyes spread wide with excitement.

"You're really fast!" The next blow staggered Lilac, and she was forced to fire a shot to prevent Ruby pressing her advantage.

Lilac smiled. "Thank you. I'm not really that quick compared to you, though." She swung the barrel of her rifle, trying to trip Ruby up.

She dodged it effortlessly. "Well, sure, but that's not fair. I have a speed Semblance and you can keep up! I mean, sure, I'm quicker when I have more time to gain some speed, but you have some really good reflexes!"

Lilac smiled at the younger girl. "Well, to be honest, there's a secret to that. I'll tell you after I win, okay?"

Ruby grinned at her. "Oh, you picked up on the pattern?"

Lilac let out a curse as the scythe seemed to blur from existence, and a flurry she couldn't predict came at her.

/

Weiss tried to jump back, but a knee to the stomach stopped her, and she went down hard.

The fight had been going horribly. Blake's semblance allowed her to quickly escape any of Weiss' glyphs, and her attempts at straightforward fighting had been hindered by the larger girl's erratic fighting style. Which left her with one option; refraining from using her glyphs to conserve aura while waiting until Blake tired herself out from over-using her Semblance and taking advantage.

On paper, Weiss knew it was a good plan, probably the best she could make in that situation.

In practice, however, she was learning it was very hard not to at least _try_ and use her glyphs, especially since Blake was _really_ getting under her skin.

Blake sneered down at her. "Really? _This_ is all you've got? A few fancy tricks and daddy's money was enough to get you into Beacon, huh? What, was the _Schnee_ planning to ride on the backs of Faunus while she was here, too? Guess old habits are hard to break, huh?"

"I am nothing like that! If you'd ever even cared to actually _talk_ to my team instead of just _assuming_ -"

She pointed her pistol down at Weiss, and was launched sideways by a few bullets. Weiss looked up in time to see Lilac take a nasty hit from Ruby as payment for getting distracted.

She pushed herself to her feet, and used a glyph to propel herself towards Ruby, slicing low and forcing the younger girl to back off. "Lilac, go take care of Blake, I'll handle Ruby."

The dog-faunus nodded. "Gotcha. Be careful, she's _really_ fast."

Ruby smiled, and even waved as her former opponent scampered off.

Weiss assumed her ready stance and waited. Ruby smiled, and pointed Crescent Rose behind her, ready to launch herself at Weiss at the first opportunity.

Weiss cleared her throat. "Before we start, I wanted to apologize for my actions when we'd first met. You've made it clear that you did earn a spot at Beacon."

Ruby nodded at her, then shot herself at Weiss, a smile on her face.

/

Saph grunted as Yang landed a solid punch to her hip. She swung her sword around to retaliate , but Yang narrowly dodged the slice, ignoring or not caring about the flames that licked at her clothing as she did so.

Another punch landed on her stomach, doubling her over. Deactivating the flames and dropping her sword, she came up with a vicious uppercut to Yang's chin, which succeeded in fazing the blonde.

/

Lilac batted away the strike, an impassive glare on her face. "You're wrong about her, you know."

Blake came around from the right this time, though Lilac twirled her rifle to block that one as well. "Oh, so she's been on her best behavior for almost a full week? Surely that's enough for me to ignore the fact that her family's been subjugating u- the faunus for decades?"

"I've still spent more time with her than you, so I'd assume I'd know before you if she had any problems with _our_ race."

Lilac pressed the attack.

/

Aureate slammed the butt of her naginata against V's shield and pressed in the button, using the explosion to force her back. Her opponent laughed.

"Alright, so you're faster than your friend, huh? Guess I'll need to speed up a bit." She tossed her sword and her shield to her side, then pulled out one of the revolvers she'd been using earlier, as well as a short knife.

She assumed a defensive position and waited.

Aureate took the chance to rest and take a dig at her opponent. "What, you gonna go all the Good, the Bad, and the Grimm on me?"

To her surprise, the girl smiled. "Actually, I was thinking more Fistful of Lien, but whatever."

She rushed towards her, and Aureate swung her naginata around to intercept her.

/

Yang's eyes widened as the larger girl got inside her guard, and slipped a hand around her throat.

Saph raised her up a few feet, then let her go, propelling her down into the ground with a huge, aura enhanced punch.

The sudden feeling of wooziness made her check her aura reserves on the board; She was barely above a third, while Yang had over half of hers left.

Aureate and V were each at about a third, Lilac was cruising high at three quarters, and Blake had only a tad more than half. Ruby and Weiss had the most aura at the moment, but their bars were falling rapidly.

A laugh brought her vision back to Yang, who was standing up, her body seeming to light up. A part of Sapphire idly wondered if her hair actually was hot to the touch at that moment, or if it merely _looked_ like fire.

/

Weiss forced herself to pour more into the haste glyph, knowing that her plan relied on being able to outspeed Ruby.

The girl herself watched her, idly chewing on her lip in anticipation. She knew she should _probably_ try and stop her, but it wouldn't be any fun to take Weiss down unless the smaller girl was fighting at full force.

/

Lilac's latest blow nearly knocked Blake back, and she struggled to guard against it. After feeling the tell-tale spike of wooziness that told her she'd overused her Semblance, she'd tried to resort to more mundane forms of dodging.

Her opponent proved to be almost freakishly fast, however, which meant most of her attempts to dodge ended up as blocks.

"All you do is judge her based entirely on something she can't control."

Blake blocked yet another strike. "This again?"

Strike. "Yes, this again!" Strike. "You know what?" Strikestrikestrikestrike. "That makes you just like-"

Blake parried the next strike and pressed her advantage, anger reinvigorating her body. "Oh, it makes me just like the racists, doesn't it? Just like the assholes who throw rocks, and make us work till the day we die in their mines just to feed ourselves, right?"

Lilac knocked her last strike far to the right. "Close. It makes you just like the White Fang."

Blake flinched back, and Lilac took her chance, firing point blank into her stomach and sending her flying back into the wall. Lilac aimed another shot, but the elimination buzzer cut her off.

A quick glance a the board showed that Blake was now considered 'out' and had to make her way out of the arena.

/

When the buzzer rang, Saph had assumed it was for her. Despite doing her best to dodge the blonde's attacks, and swinging with all her might whenever she had an opening, she'd known she didn't really have a chance of taking her down. Hell, the blonde just seemed to be invigorated by the fistfight, throwing progressively harder punches faster and faster.

So, when one clipped her shoulder and she heard the buzzer, she assumed she'd been 'knocked out.'

Yang's followup punch had sent her sprawling, pissed her off, and triggered another buzzer.

Upon looking at the board and figuring out what happened, she let out a series of curses that would've had Weiss washing her mouth with soap if she'd heard.

Yang turned towards Lilac, who waved.

/

Weiss let out a particularly dark curse as she heard the second buzzer. Due to her current... maneuver, she wasn't able to get a clear look at the board to see who'd been 'knocked out.'

Of course, her current maneuver was preventing her from getting a clear look at damn near anything, so she supposed she should've expected that.

If it'd been working, she could've excused the tactical disadvantage of reduced vision in favor of the advantage of losing an enemy combatant, particularly the leader.

However, Weiss thought as she summoned yet another glyph and bounced back at Ruby, only to have it dodged once again, that plan relied on Ruby not managing to dodge whatever was thrown at her.

Or, more specifically, Weiss. When she threw herself at- okay, not even finishing that thought.

Weiss knew, objectively, that if she managed to hit Ruby, the speed at which she was moving, coupled with the low levels of her aura whenever she'd managed to last check, would almost certainly guarantee a knockout.

Weiss also knew that, considering they were both using their Semblances, and the fact that her aura was higher last time she'd checked, meant that, even if she couldn't hit Ruby, the younger girl's aura would surely deplete faster than her own.

Despite this, she very much wanted to actually score a hit on the speedier girl.

Ruby, of course, was also aware of the circumstances, and knew that her aura was draining faster than the white-haired girl's. However, because of her many, many sparring sessions with her older sister, Ruby knew full well the dangers of going too fast.

Specifically, that if you managed to actually hit something, it could hurt you just as bad as it hurt the target.

So, Ruby steeled herself, then attempted her the move that had ended so many of her and Yang's spars;She stuck her knee out.

Weiss impacted Ruby's knee stomach first, the air driving itself out of her body. Vaguely, she heard two buzzer noises played in quick succession.

She landed with a thud next to Ruby.

A moment passed, and she regained the ability to take in air, which she greedily employed.

When she'd managed to get a good bit of air into her lungs, she turned to Ruby, who was holding her knee close to her chest.

"Hey, Ruby?"

Silver eyes landed on her.

"If you ever need help with your team or anything, you can come to me, alright?"

"Alright."

/

Lilac retreated to Aureate's side, just as the self-proclaimed 'Cat-Girl' fired off a rocket, shooting Verdant off towards the only remaining member of her team.

Yang caught her with one hand, then took a moment to help her stand. In unison, the four remaining fighters looked towards the board.

While V and Aureate were just barely scraping by, Yang and Lilac still had about half left, though Lilac still had a slight advantage.

/

"Hm. Think you can take Yang? I might be able to get a shot in on V and take her out, but I'm practically dead weight."

Lilac scoffed. "Great plan. 'hey Lilac, do everything!"

Aureate frowned. "Hey, no need to be such a _bitch_."

Lilac looked at her out of the corner of her eye. "Oh, don't be so _catty_."

They looked at each other for a moment before giggling hysterically.

/

Yang smiled at V, her hair flowing around her. "Blaze of glory time?"

"I dunno, Young Dust was pretty over-rated."

Yang rolled her eyes...then opened them wide. "Maybe that'd work! Okay, you be Scarlet Sheen, and I'll be the chick who's actually important."

"You want me to bitch for ten minutes, then die off? Or... oh, I getcha! Distract them till you can get in close, right?"

Yang nodded. "I might be able to take them both out, with all the extra energy I got from that Saph chick."

"On three?"

"On three."

/

V whipped out her revolvers, and began cackling. "Fastest shot on Remnant, kids!" She started shooting erratically, covering Yang's charge in. By the time Lilac had gotten hr rifle up and fired, Yang had knocked Aureate aside and lunged at her.

The two of them ignored the quick double buzzer, Yang swinging rapidly while Lilac used her rifle to throw the punches and shots off track, the two of them proving pretty evenly matched.. until Yang snapped a kick straight upwards, connecting with Lilac's armpit and sending her stumbling into a hard left hook, Yang's natural strength coupled with the energy Saph had unknowingly given her sending Lilac's aura down to nearly ten percent, the buzzer ringing nearly a second after the faunus had hit the ground.

Just like that, the spar was over, and class was dismissed, though Ruby and Weiss were asked to stay behind to discuss team-based tactics with Goodwitch.

By the time they were released, lunch was being served and the two teams were happily eating together, chatting like old friends. After all, they had just participated in one of the oldest bonding activities known to mankind; beating the snot out of someone.

So peaceful was the mood that even Blake admitting she'd been wrong about Weiss and apologizing had been waved off and easily forgiven.

Of course, whether Weiss forgave her without fuss was due to relief at having her biggest detractor gone, fatigue from the fight, or an unwillingness to break the peaceful atmosphere (Or hardcore drugs, as Yang had so helpfully added to the idea pile weeks later) was unknown.

Though it had been a long first week for team SOAL, Weiss felt as though things were starting to look up.

And it felt nice.

 _ **A/N: Man, fuck fight scenes.**_


	4. Fridge Logic tho

**Full Disclosure? Tv Tropes is the Source of My Power**

 _ **A/N:So, since my muse is being a dick recently, I couldn't come up with a second update this week. And since I felt pretty shitty about that, I figured I'd give you guys something, at least.**_

 _ **This is a few excerpts from my notes on the OC's names, made at least sorta legible, and with anything spoilery removed. I've tried to tidy it up a bit for your eyes, but I dunno. Anyway, hope you enjoy this little look into my thought process!**_

Aureate Orchid- Aurelius comes from Latin, means gold. Orchid's close to orchard, a fruit reference. I.E. Golden Apple, which is about her attraction to all the girls, and being unable to choose just one to flirt with.

Aureate can also mean Gilded, implying that with her, what you see at first isn't what you get. No matter how you meet her, no matter what mode shes in, there's always more to see.

Sapphire Lazuline- Has the most boring name (Sapphire), and it's really common to OCs, which goes to show her status as the most 'normal' of the team. When Lilac is freaking out over a social faux-pas, or Aureate is causing problems, Saph just sits back and watches, or occasionally pitches in. She's also the most durable member of the team, as shown by her first name. (Sapphire is a solid 9 on the mohs scale, just below diamond) However, she has an easily attacked weak spot (Helmet creates blind spots) which is also foreshadowed by her last name, Lapis Lazuli being an actual crystal with a rating of about five. By comparison, Amethyst is about a seven.) And though many see her name as a Minecraft reference, it's actually more of a nod to Dragon Ball Z, and the semi-recently revealed fact of Androids 17 and 18's names. Lapis and Lazuli. Particularly to 18 (Lazuli), who she draws inspiration from as being a strong, sarcastic woman with a strong bond to one of the weaker members of the team. This is part of the reason I've been trying to make her into the team's designated Deadpan Snarker, to closer parallel 18's later characterization.

Lilac Amethyst-Amethyst's long been considered the gem of royalty, because of it's color. She cozies up to the 'ice queen' relatively quickly, compared to most canon characters, as well as working nicely with her on the battlefield.. Also, amethyst is normally less valuable than most other gems, and it's certainly worth less than gold, but Weiss, who's lived her whole life surrounded by wealth, ends up forming a close friendship with the teammate who's 'worth' the least. Just a cute/funny lil side thought. Also worth noting is that, at different times throughout history, Amethyst's value has fluctuated wildly, leading it to be more valued than diamonds at times and worth less than a nice rug at others. This ties into how Lilac will help the others make fun of Weiss, but when the heiress needs her, she's there. I.E. Hr value as a teammate is dependent on the situation; She might not be worth as much as Saph in a fight, and she doesn't help much when the others start the teasing, but if Weiss needs someone to talk to, she's more valuable than the other two. When Weiss needs someone with a clear head, she's there. Directions? Lilac. Long range fighting? Lilac. Someone to play the part of the mediator when Weiss is pissed? Lilac.

Verdant Grove- Although her name is silly, it really did have a bit of thought put into it. Firstly is to her adaptability; her weapons and fighting style mix a bunch of different items together in ways that shouldn't mesh well, but still manage to. Just like how a grove/field of flowers will have so many colors that normally wouldn't look well together but manage to create an awe-inspiring sight. Next is to her past with Ruby and Yang. While, sadly enough, I haven't really been able to take the opportunity to expand on that past beyond a few vague hints, it's certainly leaves a good bit of room to grow, like a particularly verdant grove. Another bit is about team RVBY; Now there's a beautiful Grove, with the Sun (Yang Xiao-Long roughly translating to Little Sun Dragon) hanging overhead, Roses blooming in tandem with poison. (Belladonna is a form of nightshade, a particularly beautiful flower and a nasty poison) The place is wonderful, a real sight to behold, but everything there could kill you. Just like team RVBY, the looks hide the danger. Yet another bit is with what might've happened had team RWBY actually gotten together; V would've joined up with Lilac, thereby creating team GOAL and completing the flowers and precious minerals motif the team has going on. Yet another bit is the plans I had for her and Ruby that didn't pan out as of yet. Suffice it to say, she was/is planned to help Ruby grow and mature.


End file.
